Cater Your Christmas #4

Hello and welcome to the last featured recipe in my Cater Your Christmas mini-series! This one's a doozy... Are you ready for dessert? :)

Eggnog Pound Cake
(adapted from www.http://pinterest-project.blogspot.com)

Cake:
1 c. (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
1/2 c. shortening, at room temperature
3 c. granulated sugar
1-2 tsp. light rum (optional)
5 eggs
3 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. eggnog

Glaze:
2 c. powdered sugar
4 Tbsp. milk
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg (fresh grated is best!)

Preheat oven to 325. Cream butter, shortening, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing for 45-60 seconds in between each egg. Mix in rum once all eggs are added. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add flour mixture alternately with eggnog, starting and ending with flour mixture. Grease two standard sized loaf pans well. Bake for about an hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

To make the glaze, whisk all ingredients together until combined well. Start with 3 Tbsp. milk and add more if needed. Glaze should be thick, but drizzle-able. Poke holes in the top of each cake with a fork. Pour half of glaze over each loaf of cake. Allow to drip over sides.

This recipe is so moist and delicious. The eggnog isn't a dominating flavor, but gives a standard pound cake a little bit of festive flair!

Enjoy! :)

Cater Your Christmas #3 + a Cute Neighbor Gift

Today I've got a really yummy seasonal take on Chex mix, plus a fun craft idea to go with it. This would be a great munchie snack to have out at a party or for a holiday treat for your kids, but it's also a great easy remembrance for your neighbors! So I decided to make a little box for it that can hang over a door knob. That way you can be a sneaky little Christmas elf and leave a sweet treat for a friend! :)

Snowflake Mix
(adapted from midwestliving.com)

3 cups Chex cereal (whichever flavor you prefer - I like corn)
2 cups (a few handfuls) of bite-sized pretzels
1 cup honey roasted peanuts
1 package of mint M&Ms
12 oz white baking chocolate (the bars are more expensive, but melt a little bit easier than the chips)

Chop white chocolate bars, if not using chips. Place into top portion of double boiler, set over medium-low heat. Heat very slowly, stirring often, until melted. Be careful not to let any steam get into the chocolate or it will seize up. (You can also melt it in the microwave, but I'm not as familiar with this method. Check the package for directions.)

Combine other ingredients, except the M&Ms, in a very large bowl. Pour chocolate over the mixture and stir until everything is evenly coated. Spread on a large piece of waxed paper or parchment paper and sprinkle M&Ms on top. Allow to cool, then break into pieces and serve. Will last in an airtight container for about a week.

And here's my messy template for the door hanger treat box. It's made from a whole sheet of 8.5x11" cardstock. Please contact me if you have any questions for how to put it together. (It's pretty standard construction if you've made boxes before.) I used Hero Arts' Sending Holiday Cheer stamp set to embellish mine.

Enjoy!

Cater Your Christmas #2

Good Sunday afternoon, friends! Christmas is only one week from today! Where has this whole year gone?

Here on Cape Cod, it's feeling a little more like Christmastime today. We've been really lucky with amazing weather and warm temperatures until now - I'm talking mid 50s every day! We're over half way through December and I've still only had to wear my down vest! But last night and into today we're having our first snow of the season. I'm not going to complain, because I love living in a place with four real seasons, and we really have been so lucky this fall. But I think today I might put my fleece on :)

So I know I promised to post my second Cater Your Christmas recipe yesterday, but I forgot! So, without further ado... (Ooh this one's yummy and so easy! Three ingredients! And your mixer does all the work!)

Easiest Ever Cheese Spread

8 ounces Wispride cheddar or port wine cheese, at room temperature (you can use the kind in the plastic container, or the cellophane wrapped bar kind)
8 ounces Neufchâtel, at room temperature
4-6 ounces blue cheese crumbles

Place Wispride and Neufchâtel in the bowl of your stand mixer. Use the paddle attachment to soften and combine cheeses. Slowly add blue cheese crumbles, and continue to mix until they are broken into small pieces and combined into the other two cheeses. Serve, at room temperature, with crackers, bread, or crudites.

If you don't have a stand mixer, I'm sure you can make this with a hand mixer or a wooden spoon and some arm muscles. Just make sure the cheese is at room temperature!

Enjoy! 

Cater Your Christmas #1

Hey folks. Can you believe Christmas is only 9 days away?! I'm starting another mini Christmas themed series for you to help with any last-minute entertaining you may need to do. I have four really great and super quick-and-easy recipes for you that are perfect for get-togethers or unexpected guests. I hope you'll enjoy!

This first recipe is beyond easy. You can whip it up literally in minutes, and the ingredients are cheap, and easy to keep on hand. I work at a doctor's office and this is my version of one of our favorite lunches from one of the caterers our drug reps use. :)

Garlicky White Bean Hummus

2 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2-4 cloves of garlic
handful flat leaf parsley
olive oil
lemon juice
salt and pepper

Put a handful of parsley and a few cloves of garlic (depending on your taste preferences) into your food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add cannellini beans and process until mostly smooth - you want to keep some of the texture of the beans. Continue to process mixture while streaming in olive oil, until desired consistency is reached. Add a splash of lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Serve with crackers and crudites.

If you wanted to take a little extra time and roast the garlic prior to making the hummus, I think that would taste amazing in this recipe!

So, I'll be back tomorrow with another awesome and crazy-easy dip/spread/appetizer/snack/munchie recipe :)

Happy Friday!

12 Days of Christmas Ornaments Day 4 - Old-Fashioned Cinnamon Cookie Ornaments

Hey there! Welcome to Day 4!

I'm home from work today with a particularly angry cold, so my big kitty Ezra and I are snuggled up on the sofa with QVC on in the background, working on getting a bunch of blog posts ready.

Today's ornament is one that's been in my life for as long as I can remember, but I don't think I actually made any myself until last year. These little faux cookies are such fun to make, and they will look and smell amazing for years to come!

** Just one little disclaimer: These are "edible" in that they will not hurt you if you, your kids, your dogs, or your cats eat them. (Just in case you don't believe me, the ASPCA website says cinnamon is non-toxic for dogs, cats, and horses!) But they're not meant to be eaten. So, please, just don't eat them! :) **

Old-Fashioned Cinnamon Cookie Ornaments How-To:

Mix 1 part applesauce (get the cheapest one you can find) with 1 part ground cinnamon. (We're lucky enough to have the Atlantic Spice Company about a half an hour away from us, so we can get a whole pound of cinnamon for well under $5. But if you're looking to make a bunch of these ornaments, check your local markets to see if any of them offer bulk herbs and spices.) Mix with your hands if neccessary to achieve a thick cookie dough consistency. Sprinkle some cinnamon on a wooden board, and roll out dough to desired thickness (1/8 to 1/4 inch). Use cookie cutters, or trace templates with a butter knife, to cut out desired shapes. Use a toothpick or plastic drinking straw to cut holes for hanging. Place ornaments on parchment or wax paper lined trays or cookie sheets. Place in a dry area of your home and allow to harden, flipping occasionally to allow for complete and even drying. Hang ornaments on pieces of twine or ribbon.

I've also got a quick little video for you today, with some tips on finishing off and personalizing your ornaments.



P.S. The snowflake stamp I use in the video is from the A Muse Studio Snow Crystals set, which is available in my webstore.

AND - just one more idea I recently found on Pinterest via Martha Stewart... Consider using these little ornaments as gift tags! How cute! :)

See you tomorrow for Day 5! Heads up - it's a great idea for the little ones in your life!

{comfort} food

Helllloooooo blog land! WOW, I've been gone for a while, huh? Not sure why, but I got really burned out after the two craft fairs I did in November and early December, and I just lost all my inspiration. I've got two cards to share soon that I made with some of the new Hero Arts goodies (love them!), but for today, a little something different.

Chicken Pot Pie Soup

(adapted from Gina's Weight Watcher's Recipes)

1/4 cup flour

2 cups chicken stock

4 cups milk

a few celery stalks, chopped

1/2 medium chopped onion

garlic

1 pkg (8 oz) sliced baby portabella mushrooms

frozen mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, green beans, corn)

2 potatoes, peeled and cubed small

2-3 chicken breast, dice

1/2 tsp poultry seasoning

salt and pepper

In a large soup pot, saute onions and celery over medium-low heat until translucent. Add 2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped or grated, and mushrooms. Saute for another 3-5 minutes. Stir in poultry seasoning. Add about 2/3 of the bag of frozen veggies (or however much you like) and the diced chicken. Add milk, and 1 1/2 cups of the chicken stock. Bring to a boil slowly over medium heat. Add potatoes and simmer until tender, 5-10 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk the flour and remaining 1/2 cup chicken stock until thoroughly combined. When potatoes are tender, add flour mixture to soup and cook another 5 minutes, or until soup is thickened.

We made this soup for the first time tonight - it was so yummy! Perfect for cold winter nights - and a very healthy choice too for the post-holiday detox! :) The website I adapted the recipe from (and I didn't change much) puts it at 3 points for a 1 cup serving. That's pretty awesome in my book! 

December {Delights}

'Tis the season for gift giving, treats, traditions, and small luxuries. So I've decided to put together a couple posts throughout the month with some things I've found recently that I love. Gift ideas, recipes, project ideas... anything seasonal that I stumble upon and want to share! :) So, without any further ado (aka babbling from me) - here are my first picks!

Swedish Visiting Cake

I found this recipe on the poppytalk blog back in September. My dad loves all things Scandinavian - Swedish especially - so I immediately emailed them the recipe, and then promptly forgot about it. And then my mom brought it over for our pizza-and-tree-trimming party last night. She said it was so easy to make, and very different from other cake recipes, that she actually questioned whether there was a mistake in the recipe. And it is so delicious! The perfect combination of lemon, almond, and vanilla. I have a feeling this will definitely become a go-to recipe.

Yukon Classic Down Vest from Eddie Bauer

 For a few years, I didn't even have a winter coat, I just wore my LL Bean fleece. Last year, though, I started to feel super cold in October, and I knew the fleece just wasn't going to cut it for the rest of the winter. On a whim, walking by Eddie Bauer at the mall, I decided to look at their down jackets. Hands down, the adorable bright red one I walked out with just a few minutes later was the best money I've ever spent. I just purchased this vest as a treat for myself, and - surprise, surprise! - I am absolutely in love. It has the best fleece lining in the color and pockets - it feels like a really expensive stuffed animal! :)

Terrain at Styer's

I just discovered the amazing online boutique of this garden and home store in Pennsylvania. All I can say is, too bad I had all my shopping finished before I found it. They have the most beautiful selection of home decor, accessories, and stunning gift items for your favorite gardener. My faves? Vintage icicle ornaments, a brightly colored scarf on a spool, a hot cocoa treat set, a vintage fruit crate. Love.

Zamforia T-Shirts

This is a small, Quincy, MA-based company run by a brother-sister team that got its start peddling t-shirts on college campuses around the Boston area. I went to Boston University, and then lived in Quincy for a year while working in Cambridge, so I'm all about supporting my neighbors. And this company has such a cool concept: They make super fun tees that say love in various languages. A friend of mine (who also lives in Quincy!) made me aware of the company when she was raving about how much she loved the tee she got from them. I can't wait to get one for myself! :) But I'm sharing their site because I think these T-shirts would be fantastic gifts for husbands/boyfriends, teenage kids, best girlfriends - almost anybody on your list!


OK, that's it for my first round of December picks. I'll try to do at least a post a week for the rest of the month. Hope you enjoyed this assortment of recent fun finds! Let me know if you've come across anything you think is share-worthy!

World's Best Applesauce

Hubby and I went apple picking last weekend, and last night I decided to make one of my all-time faves: Ina Garten's (aka the Barefoot Contessa) Homemade Applesauce. This is really a spectacular recipe. It's a little bit prep-heavy, but then you literally don't do anything else. You barely even have to stir!

It starts out looking like this (which already looks completely yummy if you ask me!)...

And after an hour of ignoring it and doing whatever else your little heart pleases, it looks like this...

And then you just stir it up to whatever consistency you prefer, and you get to eat this...

... and it's so yummy and cozy and comforting!

Here's the recipe - with a couple of adaptations I made.

Homemade Dutch Oven Applesauce

- 8 large apples, peeled, cored, and quartered
- zest and juice of 1 orange
- zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1/4 cup brown sugar (or a little more depending on what kind of sweet/tart balance you want)
- 2 Tbsp. butter
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. allspice

Combine all ingredients in a large dutch oven. Cover and cook at 400 degrees for 1 hour. Mix with a spoon or a whisk until the sauce reaches your desired consistency.

Oh, and did I mention it goes great with gingerbread?

:)

to quote Rachael Ray...

THIS is what's for dinner tonight!

... or, last night actually. But either way... :)

So, spoiler alert: I'm not going to blog about crafting today. I'm going to blog about another love of mine: food; and something I know many people struggle with: maintaining a healthy relationship with food. I've been struggling with my weight since about 2003. Actually, struggling is a bit of a euphemism. More like steadily gaining weight since 2003 (not a great slogan). I've mostly managed to stay healthy, but recently my doctor finally managed to convince me that I need to put a little more effort into dropping a few pounds. So I started Weight Watchers on Wednesday... for the second time (I tried it for about a month last summer). My biggest complaint with the program is that the easiest way to follow it is by eating foods with nutrition labels. And meals that come with nutrition labels are not terribly healthy. So I've been checking cookbooks out of the library and looking at blogs that have recipes with the WW Points (r) value already calculated. I made the first of these recipes last night and it was so yummy! So I thought I'd share...

Moo Shu Chicken Wraps
(adapted from http://ww-recipes.net)

Serves 4

Ingredients:
2-3 chicken breasts
8 oz. bagged coleslaw mix
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
2 Tablespoons hoisin sauce
4 flour tortillas

Method:
1. Fill a pot with water and bring to a boil. (You want to choose a pot that all your chicken breasts will fit in comfortably.) Add raw chicken to boiling water, reduce heat, and allow to simmer until the chicken is opaque in the center. Remove chicken from water and shred with 2 forks. Measure 2 cups of chicken.
2. Heat the vegetable oil  in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
3. Add coleslaw mix to skillet and allow to cook until the cabbage becomes slightly tender.
4. Add the chicken to the cabbage and heat through.
5. Add the soy sauce and hoisin, and stir until all of the cabbage and chicken is coated thoroughly.

6. Heat a tortilla in the microwave for 30 seconds. Fill your tortilla with 1/4 of the moo shu mixture, and wrap it up. Yum!

 

Nutritional information (one serving):
WW points: 7
Calories: 304
Total fat: 14.1 g
Cholesterol: 52 mg
Sodium: 634 mg
Total carbs: 22.4 g
Dietary fiber: 2.5 g
Protein: 21.6 g

Whether you're watching your weight or not, you should really try this recipe! It tastes exactly like your favorite Chinese takeout moo shu, but you made it so you know everything that went into it and there are no questionable chemicals! One serving with a side salad is definitely enough, but if you're into slightly larger portions, this could be a meal for two. Give it a try!

Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy!

my other love

... canning. Preserving, putting up, putting by... whatever you choose to call it, I adore making jams, chutneys, butters, etc! And, as far as seasonal produce goes, there's not much out there that gets me going as much as rhubarb does! So what could be better than an afternoon spent with my hubby making two different kinds of rhubarb jams?!

 

Strawberry-rhubarb is, of course, what everybody thinks of first. And it's yummy, don't get me wrong. But I personally prefer jams that are unique and different from what's available in the grocery store. I do love strawberry-rhubarb, especially in pie form,  but I'm such a rhubarb fan that what I don't always appreciate is how the strawberry overpowers the rhubarb's flavor. So I chose something different: Rhubarb-Citrus Marmalade. Yum!

If you've never tried making your own jam, I promise, you can do it! (get it? har har.) We've never tried jelly or pickles (though my parents have been making them every year since forever), but jams, compotes, and chutneys are so much easier than you'd imagine! Home canning is gaining in popularity, so I bet you could find a class or workshop in your area if you'd prefer to have an experienced "professional" help you out on your first go. That's what my husband and I did. But really, I promise, it's so easy to do and really is relatively foolproof. So here's my little beginners' jam-making primer. Good luck!

The easiest method of home canning is called the "hot water bath" method. It's really foolproof - you don't even have to worry about sterilization! Use glass jars with two-piece lids - these have a lid, which actually seals onto the jar, and a "ring"/"band" that helps hold the lid in place. Jams usually go in 8 oz. or 4 oz. jars. You're also going to need a large pot ("canner"), and a rack that fits into the bottom of the pot to hold the jars. (Yes, you really do need the rack. It's a one-time investment and you can find them at KMart or your local hardware store.)

The first thing you do is wash your jars and rings in hot soapy water. Set the lids aside in a heatproof bowl or small saucepan. Place the rack into the bottom of the canner, set the jars inside, and fill with water until the jars are just covered. Heat the canner on medium heat - don't worry about boiling or anything. You just want it to heat to 180-200 degrees F. Set the rings aside for later. Now make your jam. When the jam is ready to go into the jars, pour boiling water over the lids. Lift the jars out one-by-one (lift, fill, replace, repeat) and empty the water back into the canner. Ladle jam into a jar, wipe the edges with a damp cloth, center the lid on the jar, and screw on the ring - just to "finger-tight." Then put the jar back in the canner. When all the jars are full, put the canner on high heat until the water boils. Once it comes to a rolling boil, set a timer for 10 minutes (or whatever time is specified in your recipe). When your jars of jam have boiled steadily for 10 minutes, turn off the heat and remove the canner's lid. Let the whole mess sit for 5 minutes. Then you can lift the jars out - try to keep them straight upright! - and wait and listen for the wonderful little *pop* of the jar lid sealing!

See? Easy! If you want a little more info, the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving is amazing! And, to get you started, here's the recipe we made - In case you've forgotten while I was up on my do-it-yourself soap box, it's...

 Rhubarb-Citrus Marmalade

1. Roughly chop 4 c. of rhubarb. (Don't bother peeling it.)

 2. Cut up 2 oranges and 1 lemon. (I sliced them thinly and then ran my knife through the slices to cut them up into small pieces.)

3. Simmer the oranges and lemon in 2 c. of water for about 20 minutes.
4. Add the rhubarb and bring to a boil.
5. Stir in 4 c. granulated sugar.

 6. Boil, stirring constantly (or at least really really really frequently) until a "gel" state is reached, which means the liquid part of the jam "sheets" off of a spoon, which looks like this:

7. When you see the "sheeting" occur, remove jam from heat. Go ahead and fill your jars! (See above.)

8. You just made jam! Yummy! :)